I want to come clean about my first three years of college (2001-2003). I had a very distant cousin from Sicily, the homeland I've never been too, inject me, twice a month, with a supplement of oatmeal and fish oil to enhance my wittiness. It was stupid. We didn't know what we were doing. One time, we stuck my psychology book in a blender, mixed it with orange juice and then injected me with that too. Unfortunately, there was an open-book test in psychology later that day. We did not consult anyone about our idea but it was our understanding that it was harmless. It was just a book we found in a store off the streets called Psychology or I think the locals might call it Psychologe (smirk here).
Anyway, I hope this sounds as ridiculous as A-Rod's interview did yesterday. I must admit that I missed 14 seconds of it because I left to pay my water bill while A-Rod took that awkward and unnecessary pause in which he attempted to be emotional. That was the most pathetic and funny thing I think I have ever seen in my entire life.
Before yesterday's interview, I was ready to move on. I didn't really care that A-Rod did steroids. It was not shocking news to me because steroids have been such a huge part of baseball the last 10-15 years. Whatever A-Rod admitted to yesterday, I don't think it would have mattered in the grand scheme of things, so long as he confessed it all, I mean. And I really think the general public would have forgiven him had he been honest. I also think if he would have come completely clean, his chances with Hall of Fame voters would have gone a lot better down the road.
Instead, he took a typcial A-Rod road and dug himself a bigger hole.
I've never taken A-Rod seriously and yesterday was no different. He's a joke and my disdain for him increased by 146 percent. Having said that, I would still love for him to be an Astro.
In basketball news, Tracy McGrady is out for the season (knee) but I don't think that is the end of the Rockets this season. This just makes Houston less of a contender unless they can make a deal for another scorer before the trade deadline is over. I do think T-Mac is done in Houston, as he has basically called it quits without the teams knowledge. I suspect this will get messy in the coming days.
Speaking of basketball and the Rockets, there is an absolutely wonderful article on the NY Times website (nytimes.com). It's about Shane Battier and how analyzing stats that don't show up in the box score is becoming a big deal for front offices. Reviewing these overlooked stats and how management uses the stats to evaluate a players skill level is basically a phenomenon in all sports right now, and this story breaks it all down. It's really long but interesting and I suggest checking it out. The story is called The No Stats All-Star.
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Battier doesn't even do the dirty work anymore. He hasn't been the guy you call on to pick up a loose ball or defensive stopper. The bottom line is the rockets have got to start over. Yao is good but that is it. He can't carry a team and is lucky to stay healthy through the season. I mean he is supposed to be so good but can't average in top 5 in ppg, rpg, or bpg, and never has. This is his best right now he is going to get better. They also have 4 point guards all of which compare to the house somewhere that has 4 clunkers in the front yard. The person who owns them catches a ride places, because he doesn't want to use them. The West has calmed down over the last year with the falling of the Suns and Mavs and the aging of the Spurs. Another one and done for the Rockets.
ReplyDeleteI think now you should be suspended if you aren' using performance enhancers. They should be fined by the team owners. Baseball ratings have steadily been increasing and it isn't because games are 1-0 or 2-1. Baseball HOF is a joke anyways. I mean how can Pete Rose not get in as a player because of what he did after he retired from "playing". Yet, the HOF still has some of his memoribilia there. I don't care if someone is a jerk outside the lines or what they did as a coach. If inside the fence and 2 foul lines a guy is a stud for years then enough said.
Pete Rose does need in the HOF. Jebby's right about that...whatever mistake he did make he made as an idiot post-playing career.
ReplyDeleteI would also take A-Roid as an Astro.
I completely agree about Rose and baseball's Hall of Fame. Rose is arguably the best hitter of all time and played with such passion, it's embarrassing that he's not in the Hall. And of all the Halls of Fame, baseball is by far the one I have the least respect for. I think we have a hard time taking baseball's Hall seriously because we're usually talking about all the players who aren't in rather than the ones who are.
ReplyDeleteAbout Battier... he's easily one of the most under appreciated guys in all of sports. Houston will be a playoff team because of Battier's defense. He will hold the team together during the second half. No. He's not a superstar and will not get a team a championship by himself. I just love the way he plays. I enjoy watching players who use their brains to outplay their opponent.
ReplyDeletepast is the past...Alex is holding a press conf. on something that happened 6-8 years ago. think about trying to answer detailed questions on something that happened in 2001
ReplyDeletealso, i understand he has become a prominent face for baseball, but why do people come so hard down on the sport? what about Rodney Harrison or Shawne Merriman who both tested positive for PED's over the last 2-3 years..they were suspended for 4 games and there hasn't been another word about it...something isn't right there
Yeah. That's a good point. And it really comes down to a couple things. Either the NFL has a much better PR guy or baseball actually likes the drama that flares from steroid scandals. I don't think not releasing the names all at once has in effort to cover this mess up. I think baseball let this happen, I think baseball is happy it happened and is thrilled so much drama is stirring from it. Sex sells and drama sells. Baseball has had both for several years now. Look how much America talks about the NFL year round and that's why people are so interested in football. Without these offseason steroid and early season steroid blowups, baseball has nothing to really generate nationwide interest. As far as steroids go, I promise it is still happening rather often in baseball and all sports. If you are in high school or the minor leagues and feel like you need some kind of boost to help set you apart from other athletes, what do you have to lose? That sport is your dream and steroids can help claim that dream. Then, if you are living the dream but feel like things are starting to slip away, what do you have to lose at that point? With the exception of some jail time for dealers/suppliers, the only real consequence for the players who have taken steroids and been caught that we have seen has been minor suspensions and some public humiliation. It may not be as big of an issue as it was five years ago, but I promise there are still many athletes of all ages weighing the consequences and determined that getting away with cheating is a bigger pro than getting caught is a con.
ReplyDeleteI understand trying to answer questions from six years ago would be difficult to do but I don't think that is something you just forget. And we've seen A-Rod in the middle of this nonsense before and he's been caught lying big time leading up to this. AND to say he was young and dumb. You can't keep using that one at 24-25. He had been in the league for several years at that point and knew what he was doing. A-Rod is a joke. He's the greatest regular season baseball player in the game and is a Hall of Famer in my book, but he's a pathetic human being.
By the way, it's just a matter of time before Albert Pujols is ratted out about his dealings with steroids. And I am serious about that. I once met a guy who played AA ball with Pujols. This was probably four years ago I talked to this guy and he said Pujols was a user. I believe it.
ReplyDeleteI can answer that Deacon.
ReplyDelete1. Football is the number sport in America.
2. You don't see there faces near as much. Literally. Plus the season isn't as long so you don't hear about them as much either.
It all comes down to selective justice again. Why does the government not get into NFL probes?
The football hof is also a joke how does Cris Carter not make it in? Check out his stats is all I can say.
I don't buy that whole cliche about we don't see football player's faces enough for them to get a free pass or why the media doesn't attack them as much.
ReplyDeleteOf the many cliches, I think the ones of most significance are as follows: perhaps its racist issues since most of baseball is still ran by old white traditionalist. Maybe it's the fact that baseball is not supposed to be a sport for brutes like in football. Maybe it has something to do with the types of journalist who cover baseball. Maybe football doesn't have the problem baseball has with steroids. I imagine there is a problem though. Anyway, I don't really know what the exact issue is, I'm just throwing some ideas out there.
Oh, and I don't think baseball wanted the steroid thing to blow up in their faces, but once it did and the setback from it was minimal, they realized it was good for the sport because people were talking about baseball. And so they are going to let the scandal linger. I do believe that much.
Yeah baseball has a much richer tradition to it than football. It was always supposed to be such a pure game and was Americas number 1 for a very long time. I can't pinpoint it but now with all the news of recent foreign players relations with some trainer. We have got to just move on like football does.
ReplyDeleteIn response to the article about Alex Rodriguez’s apology, the first thing that comes to my mind is that the past is the past. Alex is holding a press conference on something that happened 6-8 years ago. Think about trying to answer detailed questions on something that happened in 2001. It is hard to recall exactly what happened whether it was a memorable moment in your life or not. Although he is a superstar and a role model, we must remember that this guy is still human.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I understand he has become a prominent face for baseball, but why do people come down so hard on the sport? What about Rodney Harrison or Shawne Merriman who both tested positive for PED's over the last 2-3 years. They were suspended for 4 games and there hasn't been another word about it; something is not right in this situation. For some reason, whatever the reason, the sport of baseball and its players are scrutinized in a different manner than any other sport.